The Judgement-Sheep and Goats

 

"But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left."

Matthew 25:31-33

Good Morning my beloved,
 
We welcome you to worship in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We're glad to have you here with us today. I thank God for those of you who have been so moved by His Spirit to support us in the ministry, whether by sharing the ministry website, and social media platforms with your family and friends, or financially. We are reaching people and places as never before imagined, bringing more people to Christ. All praise and glory be to God.

 

We live in a society today that demands justice, however, I believe that means according to their personal perspective, rather than what is actually just. Justice, in its broadest sense, is based on the principle that people receive that which they deserve relative to the offense that has been committed. We all think that we want justice to be served, that is until it applies to us, then, we want mercy.

 

When the judgment day comes, justice will be a fearful thing for many people in that moment, when they find they must face the consequences of sin before a Holy God, Who will stand in the place of a judge and execute His perfect and righteous judgement. There is no question God is aware of all sin and His ultimate judgment is inevitable. This is not just a parable, it is a reality that will actually come to pass. However, many people, including contemporary Christians, appear to no longer to believe this warning to be true. They falsely imagine that such a loving God would never allow anyone to be sent to Hell. 

 

When we talk about the will of God, we need to combine that with a true understanding the ways of God, I assure you, they will never contradict one another, in fact, they go hand in hand. I believe that many professing Christians, have not only forgotten the ways of God, they have forgotten to seek His heart. Rather, they forge ahead and try to make things happen, by any means necessary, as if it were God’s will, simply because it's what they want to happen. Needless to say, the results are often disastrous, they have created a god according to their imagination.

 

As we look at this passage, we will find the repeated warnings of Scripture, judgement will come to pass as demanded by the True and Living God. Unquestionably, God's standards are high for the believer, a fact that has escaped much of contemporary preaching. However, it does not remove it's reality, or the consequences for those who are being deceived. Satan and his demonic agents are diligently working within the church to deceive the people of God. Contrary to popular opinion, believing in your chosen truth does not make it accurate. There is only one truth!

The entire twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew is intended to be a warning that you must not only be ready when Christ returns, but you must be faithful in service until that day comes. The judgment when the Son of Man comes in His glory, is a final judgment, when the Lord will come and gather all the people and separates them on His right and on His left, the judgment of the sheep and the goats, their eternity is sealed. Those who can go into the earthly kingdom and those who must be kept out, to establish the millennial kingdom for a thousand years. This is not the Great White Throne Judgement, where the lost are cast into the lake of fire, however, both are sudden, and both are final. The implication of this sermon, which began back in chapter 24, is to be ready at all times. And, those who aren't ready will be thrown out. It's important to keep in mind, this judgement has already been determined before Christ comes.

 

Let us pray

 

Heavenly Father,

 

Father, thank you for You Word. We are in awe of the truth of this passage, when Christ will come to judge the world. We thank You for Your generosity in providing for us with these piercing words in this warning, that we would be ready when that day comes. May we take them to heart and be absolutely fruitful while we wait.

Father, we pray for those who have never opened their heart to Jesus Christ, who think they’ll just wait till the rapture and then they’ll come. May they be unable to escape the reality of who He is and their need for salvation that only comes through Jesus Christ. For Christ's sake and for Your glory.

In Jesus' name we ask and pray

Amen

Today's Message: The Judgement-Sheep and Goats

Scripture warns us repeatedly about the wrath of God and teaches us that God is a God Who has anger with sinners every single day. The God that just gives a wink and a nod to sin, saying "It's ok, just come on in," that is often preached today, doesn't exist. Jesus' warning is bittersweet, a two edged sword, because there can be no alteration of course for those caught off guard, who are unprepared it will be a day of great fear, and for those who are ready, prepared for His coming, it will be a glorious day, long awaited day of the fulfillment of Bible prophecy. This passage is very straightforward preview as to what is going to take place when He comes in our Lord's own words.

 

Open your Bibles to the twenty-fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew 25:31-46. I invite you to follow along with me as I read the entire passage to set the stage, then we will look closely at verses 31 through 33 for today's study, as we to the judgment. So, let's open our hearts and our minds to see what the Spirit of God has to say us today. Matthew 25:31-46.

 

"But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.

"Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’

"Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

Before we begin, I want to establish one significant truth, Jesus is the Judge of mankind, He has been given all authority to execute judgment with justice and truth on the basis of how they lived, not what they professed. 

 In Acts chapter 10, Peter testifies, "God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He become visible, not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. And He ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead."

In Matthew 7:21-23, Jesus clearly says "Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’"

Therefore, this passage is incumbent upon all people, in every generation, of the need to be ready at all times, should that hour which no one knows, should come in their generation. It is an axiom that true saving faith results in a transformed life. In John 14:15, Jesus said "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." By implication, if you do not keep His commandments, you do not abide in Him. John 15 Jesus tells us "Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love."

When He comes, and He will come, I do not believe there will be time for people to decide what they want to do. There will be no way to change the outcome in that moment, judgement has already been made, therefore, it will be instantaneous. Faith alone saves; but the faith that saves is never alone.  Either we have received the new life and we are transformed, through faith in Christ or we are deceived, attempting to do the impossible by getting into heaven throughout our own effort. 

A life lived that is not godly is sinful, all sin must be judged. If your sin has been judged and the stain of your unrighteousness made clean in Christ or you shall be judged by Christ. Either He has taken our sin upon Himself, or we are still in our sin. Do you understand that? We do not live godly lives in order to be saved; we seek to live godly and holy lives because we are saved. Anyone who refuses to accept the sacrifice provided through Christ, has put themselves in a position against God and against His righteousness. God does not send anyone to Hell, He simply honors their decision. People choose their eternal destination by the choices they've made, not their profession.

Let's look at verse 31, "But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne."

The Son of Man is a title that Jesus gave Himself, to affirm that through the incarnate birth, God became one of us. He did not come in glory the first time, He came in humiliation, in submissiveness and to give His life for the forgiveness of sin, for those who would believe on Him. When He returns, He will come in glory and will sit on His glorious throne as judge. The second reason that I believe, that calling Himself Son of God continually in front of the Jewish religious leaders would have incited more hatred, more hostility than He already did confronting their teaching, attacking their whole religious system. And of course,we know how that went, after three years of ministry, they killed Him, at the precise time that God had intended. Had He emphasized that He was the Son of God, it would have likely changed the whole series of events. So, Son of Man was the lowest title He could take to say, I'm one of you.

This is in direct contrast to when He will come again, in His great glory, sit on His glorious throne, surrounded by a great host of angels, will conduct a great gathering of people, and a great sorting, and will pronounce a great judgment. In the passage, He affirms that He is both Son of Man and King, a title He was reluctant to promote, in fact, He downplayed it. In Luke 23, when they brought Him before Pilate saying that He Himself is Christ, a King. And when Pilate asked Him, "Are You the King of the Jews?" And He answered him and said, "It is as you say." Neither confirming or denying that He was King. However, we know they got the message, when He was crucified they nailed a sign to the top of the cross, which read, "Jesus of Nazareth: King of the Jews."

When Christ first came, He came to redeem sinners. When He returns, He will not alone, He will come with His mighty angels in vengeance to judge sin. 2 Thessalonians 1 says "the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus." Furthermore, I believe that Scripture teaches that when He comes back, He will come with the saints, who have already gone to be with Him, to establish His kingdom. 

 Colossians 3 says "When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory."

Jude 14-15 tells us "Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him."

All the people of all the nations will be gathered before the King of kings, the Lord of lords, Jesus Christ for a great sorting. Though the world may not realize it, they are rapidly accelerating toward their own dreadful doom, as promised in Scripture, it will indeed happen. 

Look at verses 32 and 33, "All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left."

He will separate all the peoples into two groups, the sheep go into the kingdom, and the goats will go out of the kingdom. In other words, heaven and hell. By the way, sheep and goats can actually be part of the same flock. Even though they are different, their needs can be quite similar. In the Bible, as well as Jewish culture, the right hand is a symbol of privilege, of favor, of preference, of honor. Jesus ascended to sit at the right hand of the throne of God, the place of honor and privilege. Who are the people to be judged? Ultimately, to the left will be the people who He never knew, the wicked are those who failed to receive the grace of God through accepting that Christ died because of their sin. Those who profess to know Him, but denied Him with their lives. Notice, there is no other distinction made here, the separation has only to do with their relationship to Christ.

In Matthew 7:21-23, Jesus says "Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’" He talking about professing Christians. Think about that.

I know some try to write Christ's return off as a spiritual return, but that's not what the Bible promises. It promises a literal physical return. Christ will literally be on this earth, and all people will see Him face to face, the saved and the unsaved. Proof the Rapture is a separate event, when He will call the church out with a trump and the voice of the archangel, He doesn’t come all the way down to earth, we'll meet Him in the air, both those that have already died and those who are alive. Those who have already died, their spirits are already with the Lord, right? 2 Corinthians 5:8, "To be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord." That means the moment you breathe your last breath on earth you are instantaneously transferred directly into the presence of God, not temporarily but forever. I've often been asked, "What about those who are cremated?" Don’t worry about it, God will create their body out of nothing!

Genesis 2 teaches that God created Adam from the dust of the earth. And Genesis 3 says "Till you return to the ground, because from it you were taken; For you are dust, and to dust you shall return." Whether the body is cremated or lays in the grave, God will create a glorified body, if He knows the number of hairs on your head, surely He knows what you looked like. Until then, your spirit will go to heaven when you die, our earthly bodies cannot survive in eternity. Later, we’ll all receive our new glorified bodies, which will join with our spirits. Even those going to Hell will receive glorified bodies, fitted for eternity. When Jesus rose up out of the grave, He was fit for the earth. When He ascended to heaven, He also had a body fit for heaven. What would be the point in giving us glorified bodies if heaven were not a literal physical kingdom?

I'll just read verse 34 as we close, "Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." That’s an indescribable truth isn't it? A thousand-year millennial earthly kingdom that this world’s never known. At the end of the thousand years, Christ destroys all of the ungodly. You'll have to come back next, when we'll learn more.  

In Closing..

There are those who would  have you believe that God is too loving, too kind, too merciful to allow anyone suffer in Hell but the Bible tells us very clearly that God will not save everyone. The righteousness of God demands justice, the wages of sin is death. God is all love and He is all wrath. His wrath and holiness might be beautifully and righteously displayed, as a result, there will be those who will be damned in Hell. Just as there will be those who will experience His eternal blessings forever in the glorious kingdom prepared for them.

When Christ, Who is the Judge comes, the judgment takes place. There are no more second chances, it is too late then. Whatever decisions that have been made are final. Whatever happens here is irreversible. We don’t know the exact moment of His second coming but He will return, and men will be judged at the moment that He comes. The ungodly who haven’t faced God in death, will be devastated, thrown into the eternal fire, going into everlasting punishment. This is serious stuff folks. Anyone who tries to diminish the spiritual threat of sin to you, and says "I just want to build people up and be positive," realize that Satan himself is in front of you trying to mislead you.

I know that many of you are not used to pastors speaking to us this way, speaking that clearly, that sharply. Only a true pastor, who loves you and genuinely cares about your soul will be bold enough to tell you the truth. Do not be deceived, read the Holy Scripture for yourself. When you know and embrace that truth, you’re going to be in a stronger position to reject it and live in the holy way that God has called you to live. Live according to the values of the heavenly kingdom.

May it be so..
 
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;

the Lord make His face shine upon you,

And be gracious to you;

The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.

Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen

 
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